scholarly journals Raising livestock in resource-poor communities of the North West Province of South Africa - a participatory rural appraisal study

Author(s):  
J.K. Getchell ◽  
A.F. Vatta ◽  
P.W. Motswatswe ◽  
R.C. Krecek ◽  
R. Moerane ◽  
...  

A participatory research model was used in six village communities in the Central Region of the North West Province of South Africa in order to achieve the following broad objectives : to obtain information on the challenges owners face in raising livestock in these areas and to evaluate the livestock owners' level of knowledge of internal parasites in their animals. Information obtained at participatory workshops clearly indicated a need for improvements in water supply, schools, job creation, and health services. Lack of pasture for grazing livestock was also cited as being important. Other most frequently mentioned livestock problems included 'gall sickness' (a vaguely defined condition not necessarily referring to anaplasmosis), parasites (both external and internal), chicken diseases and ingestion of plastic bags discarded in the environment. When livestock owners were questioned during individual interviews, most were able to identify the presence of parasites in either the live or dead animal. However, it seems likely that this is limited to the identification of tapeworms. It was found that most livestock owners use a combination of treatments, ranging from traditional to folklore to commercial. There were some difficulties in using the participatory methods since it was the first time that the facilitators and the communities had been exposed to them. Many communities had difficulty in dealing with the concept of finding solutions within the community, which is such an integral part of participatory methods.

Author(s):  
Gideon Van Riet

This article adopts an environmental justice approach to recurrent drought in the North-West Province of South Africa. It is based on a secondary data analysis of a study – of which the author was a research team member – conducted in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality in February 2007, which assessed the impact of drought on older people. The methodology used during the initial study included observation, individual interviews, focus group interviews and participatory research. The author of the present article suggests, however, that discourses of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and ’legislative compliance’, as in many other South African contexts, have not yet been a particularly useful framing for issues of disaster and drought. The author suggests that environmental justice discourses might offer a more useful framing or conceptualisation for those concerned with the issue of recurrent drought in the study area or similar contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75
Author(s):  
Fortunate Mtshali Thobile ◽  
Ntanganedzeni Mapholi Olivia ◽  
Tebogo Ncube Keabetswe ◽  
Farai Dzomba Edgar ◽  
C. Matelele Tlou ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (32) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Cornelius Jacobus Fourie ◽  
Tomasz J. Sanko ◽  
Cornelius Carlos Bezuidenhout ◽  
Charlotte Mienie ◽  
Rasheed Adegbola Adeleke

Surface water systems in South Africa are experiencing a major decline in quality due to various anthropogenic factors. This poses a possible health risk for humans. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of three Clostridium perfringens isolates obtained from a fecally polluted river system in the North West province of South Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9562
Author(s):  
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo ◽  
Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu

Underutilised indigenous plants can support and strengthen the existing food system, as they are considered as socio-economically and environmentally appropriate. These plants generally adapt to marginal conditions, which is essential for a resilient agriculture and sustainable food systems. The current study relied on food security and indigenous plants data collected from some selected rural households from the North West Province of South Africa. The utilised data were collected through a multi-stage sampling technique with the aid of a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire, while descriptive methods Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. The models produced a good fit for the data, and the computed F-value was statistically significant (p < 0.01). The study examined socio-economic and food security status based on the knowledge and the perception of indigenous plants by the households. The incidence of food insecurity (θ0) was 0.4060, indicating that 40.6% of the participants were food insecure while 59.4% were food secured. Binary logistic regression results indicate that factors such as age, gender, educational attainment, inclusion of indigenous plants in diet, food expenditure, and access in the study area impacted results. It was also evident that the participants had considerable knowledge of indigenous plants. However, these indigenous plants were not cultivated or included in the diet by the majority of the participants. The formulation of appropriate holistic policies that support the incorporation of the indigenous plants into the food system is recommended.


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